Group to host info session on local slaughterhouse plan

WESTPORT — A South Coast grassroots group wants to make it easier for local farmers to bring their products to market.

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By JASON PROTAMI

southcoasttoday.com

By JASON PROTAMI

Posted Jun. 4, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By JASON PROTAMI

Posted Jun. 4, 2014 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

WESTPORT — A South Coast grassroots group wants to make it easier for local farmers to bring their products to market.

Sometimes known as the farming coast, this area has seen a resurgence of locally-grown produce at farmers markets over the past few years. Purveyors of livestock wanting to sell their meats locally have had more limited options however... that's why the Southeastern Massachusetts Livestock Association (SEMALA) was born.

Formed in 2012, the group's mission is to provide the area with its own meat processing plant, complete with on-site USDA inspectors, a crucial element for farmers wanting to sell their meats to restaurants or grocery stores.

Local producers have had limited choices in meat processing facilities, especially those with USDA inspectors on site. The loss of such a facility on the North Shore to fire last year has meant those locals in the meat industry were left with even fewer choices, with the closest processing plant now out of state.

SEMALA will be holding an informative get together about their project at DeeDe Shattuck's gallery on Partners Lane in Westport's Central Village at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 6. Those wishing further information on their proposed project are encouraged to contact Sheryl Mitchner, head of the RSVP committee at (845) 661-1402.

"The state of the art facility will handle all aspects, from slaughtering and packaging to retail sales, including value added products like smoked and cured meats," SEMALA Board of Directors member Valle Blake said. The plans call for both beef and pork processing, but not poultry, she added.

Plans are well under way, a location on Route 6 near its intersection with Route 88 has been chosen and is presently under-agreement with perk-testing for septic the next step, Board of Directors member Valle Blake said during a recent interview.

But the project is as much about sustainability and food security as it is convenience for local farmers, she said. "We want to be locally sustainable... with the region able to feed itself," she said.

She went on to say most grocery stores operate under the "just in time" delivery principle, meaning both grocery stores and their wholesale distributors only keep a 72-hour supply of food in their warehouses. Any break in the delivery chain like a loss of transportation would create a food crisis, Blake intimated.

But locally-produced food also means locally-controlled food, too. Quality of product is another key determinate in SEMALAs plan.

"We're going to use slaughter practices that don't stress the animals," Blake said, adding that animals stressed at slaughter time have high adrenaline levels in their meat.

The slaughterhouse idea gained some local support at a recent meeting of the Westport Economic Development Task Force, with member Antone Vieira Jr. telling the SEMALA president, "Any support you need, count on it from me. It will be a boon not only to Westport, but to the region."

And the boon will effect producers as well as consumers, Blake said, speaking for the dozens of small and medium-scale meat producers in the area. "People might not be aware of them, but they're out there," she said.